One of gaming's funniest viral videos, Leeroy Jenkins, turns 10 years old today

Schulz's "World of
Warcraft" character, Leeroy Jenkins, sits quietly at the left
before sabotaging his teammates.DBlow2003

Ten years ago on May 11th, 2005, a video was uploaded on a gaming
forum depicting a "World of Warcraft" video game raid gone wrong.

A lone team member threw caution to the wind and charged headlong
into battle, bellowing his character's name. That video, now famously
referred to as simply "Leeroy Jenkins," is the stuff of gaming
legend.

More than 43 million people have watched as "World of Warcraft"
player Ben Schulz sabotaged his guild's careful planning by
rushing into the fight early, giving no warning save for
screaming "All right, time's up let's do this: Leeeeroy
Jeeenkins!"

In the video, the rest of Schulz's guild stares dumbfounded for a
few seconds as their teammate charges alone into the toughest
boss fight in the game.

Then, the video devolves into a chaotic fight as his team
rushes to his aid, shouting at each other before they're slowly
picked off one by one.

When the dust settles and the full extent of the massacre is
realized, Schulz's guild turns on him and his character Leeroy
Jenkins, to which he replies meekly "At least I have chicken."

Since its debut, the Leeroy Jenkins video has evolved from
self-sabotage video to internet meme, and 10 years later you'll
find numerous mentions in pop culture and references to Jenkins
in "World of Warcraft."

When "World of Warcraft" creator Blizzard debuted its card
battling game "Hearthstone," Leeroy Jenkins was immortalized with
his own card that even screamed his catchphrases.

Today, some have questioned whether the video was staged by
Schulz and his guild, but any conclusive evidence has yet to be
revealed.

Staged or not, Leeroy Jenkins still stands up as one of the
funniest gaming videos online, striking that balance between
late-night hilarity and terrible group planning that can often
come from teaming up in online games.

The audio has been garbled in the original
video — you can't hear the famous scream for some reason —
but you can watch a re-uploaded version of the video below
(Warning: there's some strong language).